Mark Ishaug was working at Ann Sather Restaurant in 1990 and in graduate school when he met 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney. Once he got his graduate degree Tunney surprisingly told Ishaug that he had to leave the restaurant and move on in his career. So Tunney called the AIDS Foundation of Chicago ( AFC ) on behalf of Ishaug.
AFC hired Ishaug in 1991 as a policy associate.
Also in 1991, AFC hired David Ernesto Munar as an administrative assistant, an entry-level position in which Munar answered phones; kept meeting minutes; handled payables and receivables; and conducted general ledger maintenance, among other duties.
"I immediately loved being at AFC and part of its social-justice mission," Munar said. "I also found out quickly how very much I needed to learn to make a bigger contribution."
Flash-forward to 2010. Both Ishaug and Munar still call AFC home—at least for a few more weeks.
Ishaug is the president/CEO of AFC; Munar is the vice president.
Ishaug will relinquish his post in January to take over at AIDS United, a new Washington, D.C.-based national organization formed as a result of a merger between the National AIDS Fund and AIDS Action.
Munar, on Feb. 1, will be the new AFC president/CEO.
Both are thrilled—each with where the other's is at and, of course, with where AFC stands. Ishaug and Munar have been business associates for 20 years—and will remain lifelong friends.
"Mark is amazing and I'm so grateful for his friendship and support," said Munar, 41. "He's encouraged me and believed in me when I doubted myself. He helped me through some of the hardest days of my life and I'm eternally grateful."
Said Ishaug: "David Munar is a superstar. He's tough, brilliant and hard-working. He is willing, and ready for the challenge" as the new president/CEO.
Running an organization—and just running
Ishaug is a runner, and has completed seven marathons, including one in 2004 in Dublin, Ireland, that has been his fastest ( four hours, 30 minutes ) . He also has run five half-marathons and the 2010 Chicago Triathlon.
Munar is a runner, too, and has completed six marathons and six half-marathons. His best performance was at the 2010 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, which he finished in 3:50.
AFC is their running bond, naturally.
They started their running journey when AFC worked with the National AIDS Marathon Training Program, which has generated millions of dollars for AFC.
In 2010, AFC launched its own endurance-training program, Team To End AIDS, or T2, as it's commonly known. About 225 runners finished the Chicago Marathon while wearing AFC's red T2 shirt—including Ishaug and Munar.
"Clearly, T2 is a crowning achievement," to my AFC career, Ishaug said. "It's really exciting that we created this brand that, we think, has huge national potential."
T2 has already expanded into Los Angeles, and might also land in Washington, D.C. and Houston in 2011. Ishaug and Munar each confirmed they will run the 2011 Chicago Marathon with T2.
Ishaug, 47, said his other career highlights at AFC include its case-management system "and how we have built that into one of the most comprehensive, coordinated care systems in the country—emulated by cities and states all over the U.S." Ishaug also praised AFC's housing program and its housing advocacy.
"What I'm most proud of is, the partnerships that we have with the community-based organizations that we work with, to do the work," he said.
Ishaug added, "I hope that my legacy is, with my [ AFC ] team, we have built meaningful partnerships that are having a huge impact in ending the epidemic, getting people into care, and preventing new infections."
Ishaug, 47, lives in LaGrange Park, with his husband, Micah Krohn, 50, and their two dogs, Lexi and Bailey. Ishaug was born and raised on Chicago's Southwest Side. He graduated from Lyons Township High School in 1981 and the University of Notre Dame in 1985.
Ishaug and Krohn, who were married last October in Vermont, will celebrate their 16th anniversary together on New Year's Day 2011.
Ishaug will still live in Chicago when he starts his new job, and then just travel when and where he's needed.
"For 20 years, this has been the most unbelievable journey at, in my opinion, the most unbelievable and fantastic organization in the world. Sure, I could be biased, but … hey, I just think AFC rocks," Ishaug said. "Going to AIDS United … well, I think it's just one of these rare opportunities where I felt the stars were aligned. It just felt like the right thing for me personally. The right person, right place, right time.
"To say leaving AFC is tough would be an understatement. I cannot say strongly enough how much I love AFC. This was a very, very tough decision, and there's pain."
Passing the torch
Munar moved to Chicago from his native New Mexico in 1985 to enroll at Northwestern University. He now lives in Chicago's Lincoln Square—and is a 2010 inductee into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame.
"I learned from a college friend who knew Mark that AFC was hiring and put in my application. Having led student-organizing efforts at Northwestern to expand LGBT rights, I knew I wanted to work on social justice issues," said Munar. "It is a tremendous honor to now accept the job of CEO, to continue AFC's leadership role in fighting the epidemic. I'm exciting by the opportunity to tackle new challenges and know I have big shoes to fill.
"Mark has been an incredible friend and mentor, so I was shocked to learn of his impending departure. But the more I learned about his new job, I could not deny how perfect he is for this new organization. I share Mark's vision of a stronger national network of AIDS advocacy organizations. With him at the helm of AIDS United, I know this vision will become a reality and open new doors for AFC to exercise even greater leadership."
And he's just as excited for his new job. Not just because of the career advancement, but by what AFC and the HIV sector can accomplish.
"I'm passionate about tackling HIV/AIDS in our city and nation because greater progress is really within our reach if we can muscle the funding and support to expand what we know works in prevention, care, and the protection of human rights," Munar said. "In these hard economic times, AIDS organizations must work collaboratively with each other, with people affected by HIV, and with non-HIV-specific organizations that deliver essential health and human services, among other sectors, such as business and government. Collectively, we are a much stronger and powerful force than working apart."
And the role certainly is a personal one for Munar, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1994, at age 24.
"I was in a steady relationship and practicing safe sex, so HIV was the furthest [ thing ] from my mind," Munar said. "In 1994, there were no effective treatments that lasted more than four to six months, and the best medical care merely helped people die with dignity. I didn't think I would live to see my 40th birthday much less enjoy the health and vitality I have today. I was petrified, depressed and filled with shame for what was happening to me. It was a long, slow process to accept my diagnosis and reach the point where I could share it publicly."
Munar knows his new job has many issues that must be addressed, and quickly, starting with health reform.
"Our society simply cannot turn the tide against HIV without providing ready access to healthcare, medications and other essential services for everyone with, and at risk for, HIV," Munar said. "The HIV crisis is partly a product of our failed healthcare system—and the deep racial, ethnic, gender, age, and sexual orientation disparities will only widen if health reform is dismantled or repealed. We need to build on the health reform, not tear it apart. Reversing course on health reform would condemn 1.2 million people with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. to greater suffering and early death and would put millions at greater risk of acquiring HIV. It's that significant, and we must work tirelessly to defeat those who would deny people affected by HIV the healthcare and prevention they desperately need and deserve."
Health reform's most meaningful changes occur in 2014, Munar said, "but we have a burgeoning crisis now to meet the HIV prevention and care needs of millions. We cannot wait for 2014—our constituents need tangible services immediately and we must fight to make them available."
Munar said that reversing the sociocultural and legal conditions that make HIV thrive is important, too. "This means engaging in the tough work of confronting HIV stigma, racism, homophobia and structural inequities that conspire to make some people more vulnerable to HIV than others," he said. "Mass incarceration of men of color, untreated addiction, the affordable housing crisis, inadequate or unavailable sex education and reproductive health services, and discrimination against transgender people are just a few examples of challenges we must tackle to reach those most at risk of HIV.
"In an era of tremendous change and economic uncertainty, the HIV sector itself will need to adapt its strategies and work better together, and with other sectors, to find more efficiencies, innovation, and produce even greater results than we already achieve.
"This is the charge of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy has put on government and the non-profit sector is no different. And I know we are up to the task: we built a dedicated HIV service sector when mainstream medical providers would not touch us or acknowledge us or provide us compassionate care. We can re-invent our strategies and institutions again and honestly must do so if we are to meet the need of all those affected in the decade to come."
Away from AFC
Their professional lives have been intertwined for 20 years, each determined to see the end of AIDS. That would be Munar and Ishaug's ultimate goal, of course.
Then Ishaug can spend more time meditating, reading, practicing qigong or listening to music—his passions away from AFC's headquarters at 200 W. Jackson.
And Munar can watch more TV or cook or dance.
